Method of and apparatus for handling articles



METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING ARTICLES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 10, 1928 f/ya.

Nov. 24, 1931. DE'NMSON 1,833,637

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING ARTICLES Filed Feb. 10, 1928 2 sheets-sheet 2 /a WWW/z w law/ewe Arm/am Patented Nov. 24, .1931

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LAVI'RENCE IMMAnUEn ennison, or $1. Louis, mrssou'ni, assrenon T0 WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INCORPORATED, or NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK METHOD or am) APPAR US roa HANDLING ARTICLES Application filed February 10, 1928. Serial No. 253,330.

This invention relates to methods of. and apparatus for handlin articles, and 'more particularly to methods of and apparatusfor aredetern'iinedly positioning artic-lesfor inspection purposes.

This, invention has been found particularly useful in the inspectionof protector blocks of the type used in open "space cutouts, commonly v employed in telephone systems as a means for protec ing other apparatus against ab-v normal current surges." Such a protector block comprises an apertured block of nonconductive material, such as'porcelain, and conducting electrode of carbon inserted Within the aperture of the block, this carbon insert being secured in position by means of suitable bonding or cementing material. Be-

fore'subjecting the blocks to a series of gagingand circuit teststo eliminate such blocks that do not meet certain requirements the blocksare subjected'to a visual inspection, the operator re ect1ng such blocks that are obviously defective as to appearance or structure.

' The primary objects of this invention are to provide an improved method of and apparatus for effectively and efficiently advancingv articles in predetermined arrangement before an operator to successively expose surfaces thereof for visual inspection.

Inorder to attain these and other objects in accordance with, the general features of this invention, an apparatus by means of which. the improved method may be practiced for positioning articles 'to be visually inspected, such as protector blocks,is provided whichcompri'ses a conveyor plate upon which th'e'blocksare predeterminedly positioned bythe operator, the plate being provided with a pair, of spaced concentric continuous V- shaped grooves in its upper surface. These grooves cooperatingfwitha spiral way formed in a stationary guideplate serve to convey the V blocks carried bythe conveyor plate past the operator for visual inspection in two opposed positions.- V Specifically, this feature is accomplished byhaving the spiral way so formed: that itlies across each of the grooves in the conveyor plate at 'separatedportions thereof,

other portions of which do "not lie across the grooves. In the rotation of the plate the blocks are conveyed thereby, during which they are laterally displaced upon the plate by the spiral way and toward the operator who visually inspects predetermined surfaces thereof in their advancement. During the next revolution of the plate the spiral way guides the blocxs first across the inner V- shaped groove, during which the blocks are turned 90 and finally across the outer V-' shaped groove during which they are turned another 90, thereafter they are moved past the operator who visuallyinspects other predetermined surfaces thereof and finally the blocks which have not been removed from the plate on account of defects observed visually by the operator are directed away from the apparatus.

These and other objects will be more apparent from the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein ig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of an apparatus embodying the features of this in-- vention'; 4

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section onthe lin 2 -2thereof;

"Figs. 3 to 7, inclusive, are enlarged fragmentary sectionstalcen progressively around the spiral way .on the lines 33 to 77, inelusive, of Fig. 1, illustrating various positions of the protector blocks upon the conveyor plate during the operation of the apparatus, and

"T Figus is a perspective view of a protector block adapted to behandled by thev apparatus disclosed in Figsgl to 7,'inclusive.

Referring now to the drawings in detailwherein like reference numerals designate similar parts throughout the several views, and particularly to F ig, 2, a stud shaft 10, the lower end of which (not shown) is suitably fixed to amain supporting framework 11, shown fragmentarily at the right hand side of Fig. 2, is provided at its upper endwith acircular plate .12. Surrounding the plate 12 and closely fitting about the periph-, cry-thereof is ani'annular article conveying plate 13, the upper surfaces of'the plates 12 and 13 being on a common plane. The conveyor plate 13 is rotatably mounted upon the shaft by means of a plurality of radial ribs 14 and an axial bearing portion 15 supported on the shaft. The lower surface of ii the bearing portion 15 is provided with a bevel gear 18 which meshes with a bevel pin ion 19 fixedto a drive shaft 20' which may be connected to asuitable source of power,

for instance an electric motortnot shown).-

The lower surface of the gear 18- rests upon a collar 21 pinned to the stud shaft. Thus it will be apparent that upon imparting rotary motion to the shaft-20 the annular conveyor plate 13 willbe caused to rotate around the stationary plate 12 attached to the stud shaft '10, the direction of rotation being counter-clockwise as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1. Fixed to the framework .11 is a U-shaped support 22 formed of'angle iron which closelysurrounds the conveyor plate 13at-the lower and left hand portions there of, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively,

, the upper surface of the support lying subs,

stantially in the same plane as the plates 12 and 13. 7 p

Positioned above the conveyor plate 13 with a slight sliding clearance therebetween isaplate 23 which is secured to the U-shaped support 22, the plate being provided with a spiral scroll article guideway 24. The plate 23 is formed with a substantially central aperture 25 which exposes the. greater portion of the upper surface of the stationary plate 12, the purpose of which will be made apparent shortly. The spiral way 24 may be considered to start at 28,.winding in a counter-clockwise direction outside of the stationary plate 12 and ending at 29 (Fig. 1) the conveyor plate 13 positioned therebelow, providing a traveling support for articles 30-, in the present instance protector blocks. A supply of promiscuously arranged protector blocks 30 are fed by gravity down a chute 31 andonto the upper surface ofthe stationary, plate 12 from which the operator predeterminedly positions them in the narrow longi, tudinal surfaces thereof directed upwardly asclearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, arranging them in train formation against a-vertical' wall 32 of the plate 23at-th-e. lower portion of the aperture 25, as viewed in Fig. 1, and upon the'rotating conveyor plate 13, whereupon theyare conveyed intothe way.24 at r 28. Fhe upperlihalf of the way 24,.as viewed 9: upon the conveyor plate 13 and toward the:

and the blocks-p I 1 in Fig. 1,-is spirally formed, while the'lower half is concentrically arranged, with the re-' sult that, during the time the blocks 30 are being conveyedaround the rearward-half of the plate 23, they are also-laterally displaced periphery=thereof, and during their move-- ment around the forward half no. relative movementoccurs between the conveyor plate The. conveyor .plate :13 has formed its upper surface a pairof spaced concentric continuous V-shaped grooves or'depressions 35 and 36, the inclined surfaces forming each groove being on slightly 'difierent angles, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 to 'Z, inclusive, the inner surfaces of each groove with respect to the axis of the plate 13 being slightly less inclined than the outer surfaces thereof. The vertical wall of the way 24 at two points along the upper half thereof is-beveled as shown at 37 and 38 and also at 39 along-its lower half, the purpose of which will become apparent hereinafter in the description of operation of the apparatus. A brace or reinforcing bar 40 is provided for holding the scroll portions of the plate 23 in predetermined relation and is secured at its outer endsto the U-shaped support 22, the bar also may form a support for the discharge end of the chute 31 as clearly shown in Fig. 2. r

In the operation of the apparatus the protector blocks are deposited pro-miscuously on the upper surface of the stationary plate 12 by gravity from the chute 31,*the chute be ing supplied from a suitable source (not shown and counter-cloclnvise rotation is imparted to theconveyor plate 13 in the man ner hereinbefore described. The operator then proceeds, as hereinbefore described, to position the blocks 30 with their narrow longitudinal edges directed upwardly and with the sides of the blocks against the vertical wall 32 of the plate 23 and upon the rotating conveyor plate 13 in train formation. After entering the guide way 24 at 28 (Fig. 3) the blocks 30 are gradually laterally :displaced in an outward direction upon the conveyor plate 13, leaving the way 24 at the point .44 where they enter an enlargement of the waydirectly below the point at which they are mounted upon. the conveyor plate and are then subjected to the scrutiny of the operator who reniovesjany of them that have defect-s perceptible by sight upon the surfaces thereof which are exposed and drops them into an aperture in the plate 23 where they are dir'eoted toa receptacle (not shown). The operator in scrutinizing the blocks as just described continues to position other blocks as hereinbefore described against the F. 5

vertical. wall 32 of the plate 23, relying on his sense of feel for properlyv positioning them. The blochs30 not removed on account of visual: defects travel across the enlargementof the way 24 and enter it again at 1 46, no relative movement between the conveyor plate 13 and the blocks occurring untilv the point47 is reached, whereupon the blocks aregradually-laterally displaced again upon the plate 13 by the spiral way "24, which crosses-the V Sh'aped grooves 35 and 36' of the plate 13, at separated points, as clearly shown in Figs; 1',- 4. and 6. As the; blocks are conveyed along the way 24, referring pai ticularly to Fig. 4, and simultaneously later I ally displaced on the plate 23, they finally dropvinto the inner groove 35, assuming'the position shown in Fig. l. In the continued travel of the blocks 80 they are lifted from the groove 35, assumingthe position shown in Fig. 5, resting on a side surface thereof,

having been rotated 90 from their initial position upon'the plate 13. Thereafter the "blocks 30 reach the point where the way 24 crosses the outer groove 36, into which the blocks are moved, assuming the position shown in Fig. 6,-and finally they are lifted therefrom by the en agement of the blocks with the wall of the spiral way as the blocks visual are advanced therealong by the conveyor late 13 and assume the position shown in Fig. 7, which illustrates the block completely overturned from its initial position upon the plate'l3, thus exposing other surfaces thereof. The blocks thereafter leave the way 24 at t8 and travel across the enlargement thereof directly below their previous ine of'travel between the points at and 46.

. During this lattertravel across the enlarge- -ment-of the way 2-1 the blocks 30 are again subjected to the scrutiny of the operator for defects, the operatorremoving such 5 ones that do not meet the required standards v sitioned by the tion upon the conveyor plate 13 and travel and dropping them into the aperture 45.

Each block 30 is thus subjected upon opposite portions tojthe scrutiny of the operator and those not re ected in the last visual examination enter the way 2% again at 4:9

and are directed thereb until the pass from the'conveyor plate 13 at a point 50 where they may slide into a receptacle (not shown) positioned below the plate 28, or be received by a suitable magazining apparatus I (not indicated).

Although the blocks'SO may be initially pooperator in contiguous relain this .manner to the point 28, it will be apparent, due to the spiral way 24 receding toward the periphery of the conveyor plate 13, that the blocks will thereafter become separated. Thus the visual inspection of the blocks as they travel across the enlargement of the way 2a where they are scrutinized by the operator is greatly facilitated. I t

Although the invention as herein illus- 'trated and described is particularly well understood adapted for use in connection with the visual inspection of protector blocks, it should be p I that the novel features thereof are capable of'other applications and should be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is: 1. A method of; handling articles, which consists in predeterminedly positioning a a plurality of articles in a predetermined plane spiral path in contiguous relation with each other, continuously advancing the art cles therealong in a direction away from the axis of the path and during their advancement successively inverting them by a series of successive stepsin a direction substantially at I right angles to their line, of advance.

2. In apparatus for handling articles, means for positioning an article laterally, means for advancing a positioned article, and means for guidingthe article during its advancement along a predetermined plane path,

with the the the advancing means cooperating guiding means during the advance of article for varying its position from the original position in a direction at an angle to its line of advance.

"3. In apparatus for handling articles, means for advancing a positioned article, and means for guiding the article during its advancement along a predetermined plane ceiving surface for advancing an article positioned thereon, means for spirally guiding the article upon the surface-contemporaneously;with its advancement, the rotatable means provided with a depression in its plane surface with whichlthe article is associated during its spiral travel for varying its posi tion from the original position in a direction at an angle to its line'of advance, and means for actuating the article advancing means."

5. In an apparatus for handling articles, rotatable means having a plane article receiving surface for advancing an article predeterminedly positioned thereon, stationary means provided with a plane spiral way for guiding the article upon the surface contemporaneously with its advancement, the rotatable means provided with a continuous depression in its plane surface into which the article is first moved and then removed therefrom during its spiral travel for varying its position from the original position in a direction at an angle to its line of advance, and

means for actuating the article advancing means.

6. In an apparatus for handling articles, a rotatable annular member having a plane upper'article receiving surface for advancing an article positioned thereon, a stationary article supply holding member having a surface on a plane with the article receiving surface of the annular member and closely fitting the inner periphery thereof, means i for causing the article to travel in a spiral path upon the annular surface contemporane ously with its advancement, the annular member provided with a depression in its plane surface with which the article is associated during its spiral travel for causing it to be inverted from the original position, and

Yineans? for actuating {the article advancing memher.

ceiving surface for continuously advancing a plurality of articles' predeterminedly posie Y tionedlthereon in contiguous relation-With member. 7 s a '8. Inwan apparatus for handllng artlcles,

each other, means for causing the articles to travel in a predetermined path uponit'he' plane surface contemporaneously with tllell advancement,' the path being such that the articles are separatedi'as they-are advanced,

the plane surface provided with a plurality of continuous depressions one-within the, other with Which the articles are associated -successively during: their travel for causing them to beinverted in a direction substan-- tially at right angles'to their line off-advance, and means for actuating'the article advancing rotatable member having aplane article receiving surface for advancingman' article ,--positioned thereon; the surface provided with circular concentric depressions, means. for 'causmg'the' article to travel 1n ayspiral :path

*uponithe plane surface and intoassociation With. the depressions for vary ngits posltlon from! the OllglIlfll'fPOSltlOl'l, and means for In'an apparatus for handl-ing articles; 7 ---means' for advancing a positioned ELIlZEClE, and

actuating the article advancing means.

" means for guiding the-article dnring'its adzvancement a plurality of times past a prede- .35.

termined point and along different plane paths,"the advancing means cooperating with my name this the guiding means during theadva-nce of the I i articlefor varying its p0S1t1O11 b6tW66I1'S6V- jera l of. the dlflerent paths from thenoriginal position. i 'In witness vvhereof, I hereunto subscribe 25th day of January D. 1928.' i y K LAWRENCE IMMANUEL' DENNESON. 

